Mumbai: Mumbai Police have arrested a 23-year-old youth for marrying a minor girl after allegedly tampering with her real date of birth on her Aadhaar card to prove she is a major, officials said here on Thursday.
The fraud came to light after the youth and the girl got married on April 11 at the Bandra Marriage Registrar, and later visited the Dahisar police station to complete the mandatory legal formalities.
The police summoned the girl’s father, a tailor named Sabajit Pal, in the matter and he pointed out the discrepancy in his daughter’s date of birth, and later lodged a formal complaint.
Pal said that the girl was born on May 7, 2006, but her accused-husband – identified as Gaurav Makwana of Mira Road town in Thane – had got it changed on her Aadhaar card to March 12, 2004 to prove that she was above 18 and hence eligible to marry on her free will.
The family also produced the girl’s original birth certificate, as submitted to a local school, as proof of the real date of birth. The girl also admitted to the fraud committed with her knowledge, after which the police lodged an FIR based on the father’s complaint.
The police swooped on the accused and arrested him on charges of kidnapping, cheating, forgery, child marriage etc. The accused has been remanded to judicial custody pending further investigation, Inspector P.G. Patil told mediapersons.
However, he said that the girl was sent for a medical test but she refused to undergo it, so the police have not invoked charges of rape on the accused.
The girl is a junior college student and was friendly with the accused since past one year. They decided to get married, but since her age was a hindrance, the youth resorted to the Aadhaar card fraud, which was detected.
The preliminary probe has also revealed that the Aadhaar card was tampered sometime last year.
The police are also investigating the role of the girl/her family in the matter.
(IANS)
